Grill cleaner apparatus

ABSTRACT

A grill cleaner apparatus for cleaning a grill using rotary power from an external source such as a hand drill, having a drive shaft and cleaning wheels such as wire brush wheels, with a forward cleaning wheel rotating with the drive shaft and cleaning grill bars, and two side cleaning wheels rotating perpendicular to the drive shaft and cleaning grill bars and additionally propelling the grill cleaner forward.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a grill cleaner apparatus for cleaning a grillusing rotary power from an external source such as a hand drill.

Existing powered grill cleaners can be expensive, clumsy, or ineffectiveat cleaning barbeque-type grills, especially when the grills are beingused at remote locations. Grill cleaners powered with internal motorsrequire either a source of electricity or the management of agrill-cleaner battery, and they are expensive, heavy, and subject toheat damage to the electrical components. In contrast, rotary powerdevices such as battery-powered hand drills are common, portable, andhave battery management systems already existing.

Many grill cleaners fail to extend sufficiently far down through thegrill bars to clean the lower parts of the bars, which can becomethickly coated with baked-on residue. For the user, moving a poweredgrill cleaner along the grill bars at an optimal speed can be physicallytaxing because of the weight of the grill cleaner, the rotation ofbrushes counter to the direction of movement, trying to move too fast,or taking too long at the task by moving too slowly.

The brushes or cleaning surfaces of grill cleaners necessarilyaccumulate a lot of greasy charred residue, and must themselves becleaned, which can be difficult where the brushes cannot be easilyremoved and reinstalled. Brushes will wear out or become damaged, andobtaining new special-design brushes can be expensive and cumbersome.

What is needed is a grill cleaner powered by an external source such asbattery-powered hand drill, having brushes which reach sufficiently fardown between grill bars, having brushes which can be easily removed forcleaning and inexpensively replaced when worn or damaged, and havingself-propulsion to assist in moving across the grill bars.

Chinese Utility Model No. 2927822 for a “Brush for Roasting Frame,”issued on Aug. 1, 2007 to inventor DAI JIANGANG, discloses a roastingframe brush that comprises a handle and a brush head fixed with hardmetal wires, characterized in that a casing, a driving mechanism insidethe casing, the power supply portion and a control switch are furtherprovided, the brush head is connected with the driving mechanism througha rotary shaft, driven by the driving mechanism, the driving mechanism,the power supply portion, and the control switch together form thedriving circuit.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,004 for a “Powered Hand Tool For Use In HouseholdCleaning Operations,” issued on Nov. 10, 1981 to inventor Lorine E.Lancaster, provides for a tool including a water-tight housing of anelongated configuration having a handle defined therein, and anelectrically energizable motor mounted in the housing and having arotary output shaft therefor; a pair of wells spaced 90° apart arefurther provided in the housing as receptacles for a pair of socketsmounted on normally related drive shafts connected with the motoradapted to receive one of a plurality of polishing wheels mounted onshafts, whereby the polishing wheels are interchangeably related to thesockets.

German Utility Model No. 20 2009 004 156 for a “Electric Grill Cleaner,”published on Sep. 3, 2009 by inventor Herbert Prieschl, discloses anapparatus for cleaning grill grates or similar lattice-shaped articles,characterized in that the device is operated with electrical energy fromthe mains.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,161,612 for a “Surface-Cleaning Device,” issued on Oct.20, 2015 to assignee Grillbot, LLC, provides for a device for cleaning asurface, such as a barbeque grill, having a substantially hollowenclosure that has at least a lower side, an upper side, and aperipheral edge, and contains a plurality of motors that each has arotational shaft selectively fixable with a rotatable brush. At least aportion of bristles of each brush projects below a plane of the lowerside of the enclosure. The enclosure further contains a power source anda circuit adapted for connecting power to each of the motors for apreset period of time upon actuation of an electrical switch connectedthereto. The circuit is adapted to run each motor in a first directionand then an opposing direction, such that if the device becomes stuck atan obstruction, it will eventually turn around due to the alternatingdirections of the motors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a grill cleaner apparatus for cleaning a grillusing rotary power from an external source such as a hand drill, havinga drive shaft and cleaning wheels such as wire brush wheels, with aforward cleaning wheel rotating with the drive shaft and cleaning grillbars, and two side cleaning wheels rotating perpendicular to the driveshaft and cleaning grill bars and additionally propelling the grillcleaner forward. A body unit houses the drive shaft supported by bearingsupports with bearings. The side cleaning wheels rotate on a transverseshaft, with rotary power transferred through a driving gear and a drivengear. The cleaning wheels are removably attached through wheel-axlemounts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the drawings, wherein like parts aredesignated by like numerals, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the grill cleaner apparatus of theinvention in use;

FIG. 2 is a perspective lower view of the grill cleaner apparatus of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective upper view of the grill cleaner apparatus of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a back view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the grill cleaner apparatus of the inventionin use with the cleaning wheels detached;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the grill cleaner apparatus of theinvention;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal section view of the grill cleaner apparatus ofthe invention; and

FIG. 12 is a transverse section view of the grill cleaner apparatus ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the grill cleaner 1 is operated by attaching asource of rotary power such as a hand drill to the drive shaft 5,causing the forward cleaning wheel 11 and the side cleaning wheels 12 torotate and clean the grill. Rotation of the side cleaning wheels 12 alsopropels the grill cleaner 1 forward along the grill. The grill cleaner 1has a front to back, forward to rearward orientation with reference toits line of travel along the grill bars, and a top to bottom orientationwith reference to its placement on the grill bars in use.

Referring to FIG. 2, the grill cleaner 1 provides a body unit 2 as aframe upon which to array the other components. In a preferredembodiment the body unit is a metal channel with approximate dimensionsof 1.5 inches width and height, and 5.75 inches length. The drive shaft5 has a 0.25-inch diameter. The forward cleaning wheel 11 has a 2.5-inchdiameter and the side cleaning wheels 12 have 3-inch diameters.

The forward cleaning wheel 11 and side cleaning wheels 12 have abrasivematerial around the perimeters. In a preferred embodiment the abrasivematerial is radiating wire bristles forming wire brushes. Such wirebrushes are widely available at low expense, and can be readilyreplaced, as treated below. The forward cleaning wheel 11 and sidecleaning wheels 12 can also have other abrasive materials such asplastic bristles or abrasive foams. The bristles of the side cleaningwheels 12 should be flexible enough to allow the wheel perimeter toextend through the bars of the grill to more effectively clean the sidesand undersides of the bars and to provide increased traction forpropelling the grill cleaner 1 forward.

Referring to FIG. 3, the grill cleaner 1 provides a wheel cover 13 withan attached handle 14. The wheel cover 13 blocks the ejection of debrisloosened by the cleaning wheels. The handle 14 provides a way for theuser to move and place the grill cleaner 1 on different rows of grillbars. In a preferred embodiment the wheel cover 13 is made of metal andmeasures approximately 5.5 inches across its forward edge. The wheelcover 13 can also be made of hard plastic or similar material. In apreferred embodiment the handle is made of plastic or rubber and isapproximately 5 inches long with an approximately 1.25-inch diameter.

Referring to FIG. 4, the grill cleaner 1 provides bearing supports 3 andbearings 4 mounted within the body unit 2. One bearing support 3 andbearing 4 is mounted at the back of the body unit 2, and supports thedrive shaft 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, the forward cleaning wheel 11 and side cleaningwheels 12 each provide a wheel axle 10 which is removably mounted to awheel-axle mount 9, as treated below.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the forward cleaning wheel 11 extendsslightly below the body unit 2 so that in use the forward cleaning wheel11 makes good cleaning contact with the upper half of the grill barswithout becoming blocked by the grill bars. The side cleaning wheels 12extend more below the body unit 2 so that the side cleaning wheels 12also extend between and below the grill bars. In a preferred embodimentthe forward cleaning wheel 11 extends approximately 0.125 inches belowthe body unit 2 and the side cleaning wheels 12 extend approximately0.75 inches below the body unit 2.

Referring to FIG. 8, in use, when rotary power is supplied to the driveshaft, the forward cleaning wheel 11 and the side cleaning wheels 12will rotate against and clean the grill bars, and the side cleaningwheels 12 will also propel the grill cleaner 1 forward along the grillbars.

Referring to FIG. 9, the forward cleaning wheel 11 and the side cleaningwheels 12 each have a wheel axle 10. The grill cleaner 1 provides awheel-axle mount 10 for each wheel, providing an ability to remove thewheels for separate cleaning, for replacement, or for switching amongdifferent types of wheels.

Referring to FIG. 10, exploded view, FIG. 11, longitudinal section view,and FIG. 12, transverse section view, the drive shaft 5 is supportedwithin the body unit 2 by bearing supports 3 with bearings 4. At leasttwo sets of bearing supports 3 and bearings 4 are necessary and are bestlocated at the back and front of the body unit 2. More sets of bearingsupports 3 and bearings 4 located between the back and front can provideadditional support and stability to prevent displacement of the driveshaft 5 during use, as shown.

The forward cleaning wheel 11 is driven directly by the drive shaft 5.The side cleaning wheels 12 are driven by one or two transverse shafts7. In the illustrated embodiment one transverse shaft 7 is provided todrive both side cleaning wheels 12, other configurations providing twoseparate transverse shafts 7 are possible. The transverse shaft 7 drivesthe rotation of the side cleaning wheels 12 so that both wheels rotatetogether and cooperatively to propel the grill cleaner 1 forward. Theaxis of rotation of the side cleaning wheels 12 is perpendicular to theaxis of rotation of the drive shaft 5 and forward cleaning wheel 11.

A bearing 4 and wheel-axle mount 9 are provided for the forward cleaningwheel 11 and each side cleaning wheel 12, as shown.

Rotary power is transferred from the drive shaft 5 to the transverseshaft 7 through at least one driving gear 6 mounted on the drive shaft 5and at least one driven gear 8 mounted on the transverse shaft 7. In theillustrated embodiment with a single transverse shaft 7, a worm gearhaving one driving gear 6 and one driven gear 8 is shown. Other gearconfigurations are possible which provide more than one driving gear 6,driven gear 8, or both.

In the illustrated embodiment two additional sets of bearing supports 3and bearings 4 are provided in front and in back of the transverse shaft7 and the driving gear 6 and driven gear 8, to support and stabilize thedrive shaft 7 at that point where the operation of the gears would tendto displace the shaft.

Many other changes and modifications can be made in the system andmethod of the present invention without departing from the spiritthereof. I therefore pray that my rights to the present invention belimited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A grill cleaner apparatus for cleaning a grill having grillbars with rotary power from an external source, the grill cleanercomprising: (i) a body unit having a front, back, top, bottom, andsides; (ii) at least two bearing supports mounted in said body unit,each having a mounted bearing; (iii) a drive shaft mounted in said bodyunit and through said bearing supports with said bearings, and extendingfrom the back of said body unit, adapted for attachment to an externalsource of rotary power; (iv) at least one transverse shaft mounted insaid body unit perpendicular to said drive shaft and extending to thesides of said body unit; (v) two additional said bearings, each mountedon a side of said body unit at said transverse shaft; (vi) at least onedriving gear mounted on said drive shaft, adapted to transfer rotarypower from said drive shaft; (vii) at least one driven gear mounted onsaid transverse shaft, adapted to engage said driving gear to transferrotary power to said transverse shaft; (viii) a forward cleaning wheelhaving a wheel axle, adapted to clean grill bars; (ix) two side cleaningwheels, each having a wheel axle, adapted to clean grill bars and topropel said grill cleaner forward; (x) three wheel-axle mounts, mountedat the front end of said drive shaft and at the ends of said transverseshaft, adapted to removably couple said wheel axles to said drive shaftand said transverse shaft; (xi) a wheel cover at the top of said bodyunit, adapted to cover said forward cleaning wheel and said sidecleaning wheels; and (xii) a handle at the top of said body unit,adapted for manual movement of said grill cleaner.
 2. The grill cleanerapparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional bearingsupport having a mounted bearing mounted near said transverse shaft. 3.The grill cleaner apparatus of claim 1, where said at least onetransverse shaft further comprises one transverse shaft.
 4. The grillcleaner apparatus of claim 1, where said at least one driving gearfurther comprises one driving gear.
 5. The grill cleaner apparatus ofclaim 1, where said at least one driven gear further comprises onedriven gear.
 6. The grill cleaner apparatus of claim 1, where saiddriving gear and said driven gear together comprise a worm gear.
 7. Thegrill cleaner apparatus of claim 1, where said forward cleaning wheeland said side cleaning wheels are wire brush wheels.
 8. The grillcleaner apparatus of claim 1, where said forward cleaning wheel furthercomprises being further adapted make contact with the upper half of thegrill bars.
 9. The grill cleaner apparatus of claim 1, where said sidecleaning wheels further comprise being adapted to extend between andbelow the grill bars.
 10. A grill cleaner apparatus for cleaning a grillhaving grill bars with rotary power from an external source, the grillcleaner comprising: (i) a body unit having a front, back, top, bottom,and sides; (ii) two bearing supports mounted in said body unit at thefront and back, each having a mounted bearing; (iii) a drive shaftmounted in said body unit and through said bearing supports with saidbearings, and extending from the back of said body unit, adapted forattachment to an external source of rotary power; (iv) a transverseshaft mounted in said body unit perpendicular to said drive shaft andextending to the sides of said body unit; (v) two additional saidbearings, each mounted on a side of said body unit at said transverseshaft; (vi) a driving gear mounted on said drive shaft, adapted totransfer rotary power from said drive shaft; (vii) a driven gear mountedon said transverse shaft, adapted to engage said driving gear totransfer rotary power to said transverse shaft; (viii) at least oneadditional said bearing support having a mounted bearing mounted in saidbody unit adjacent to said transverse shaft; (ix) a forward cleaningwheel having a wheel axle, adapted to clean grill bars; (x) two sidecleaning wheels, each having a wheel axle, adapted to clean grill barsand to propel said grill cleaner forward; (xi) three wheel-axle mounts,mounted at the front end of said drive shaft and at the ends of saidtransverse shaft, adapted to removably couple said wheel axles to saiddrive shaft and said transverse shaft; (xii) a wheel cover at the top ofsaid body unit, adapted to cover said forward cleaning wheel and saidside cleaning wheels; and (xiii) a handle at the top of said body unit,adapted for manual movement of said grill cleaner.
 11. The grill cleanerapparatus of claim 10, where said driving gear and said driven geartogether comprise a worm gear.
 12. The grill cleaner apparatus of claim10, where said forward cleaning wheel and said side cleaning wheels arewire brush wheels.
 13. The grill cleaner apparatus of claim 10, wheresaid forward cleaning wheel further comprises being further adapted makecontact with the upper half of the grill bars.
 14. The grill cleanerapparatus of claim 10, where said side cleaning wheels further comprisebeing adapted to extend between and below the grill bars.